Feature Article
Feature Article - Week Of March 12, 2024
Proverbs 27:17 Have you ever used a dull knife? Have you ever tried to cut a steak with a butter knife? Butter knives were not created to cut steaks. I have not met too many people would choose to use a dull knife over a sharp knife when eating a steak. God is looking for sharp men and women who will cut against the grain of our culture to make an eternal impact in their homes, work places, churches, their neighborhoods, at the hardware store or wherever they find themselves What happens when you use a knife on a daily basis cutting and cutting across the grain of something? The knife quickly becomes dull and needs re-sharpened. The duller it becomes the less effective it is to accomplish its created purpose. Many Christians today are spending time cutting but not sharpening and it is effecting their effectiveness in our culture. No one wants to fail, no one wants to stumble, no one says, I really don't want to grow and become a better person. I don't know too many people who would say, "I want to be dull and dying spiritually and otherwise ineffective in the purpose for which I was created in life". Most every person I have met wants to grow spiritually, wants to be a better person, parent and employee. At least that is what they say. Often times our actions speak louder than our words. We say we want to grow and then when it comes to doing what it takes to grow we resist, fight against, we rationalize, we condone our actions or we simply say - "who I am right now is good enough - leave me alone." And we live with a good enough attitude, which in our spiritual lives is a death sentence. I am a life long learner. I never want to become satisfied with status quo living. And I have come to realize that in order for me to continue to grow and remain sharp personally and spiritually and as a pastor and a parent I desperately need some solid people in my life that can help me to improve. It is not always comfortable or convenient, or pleasurable, but it is extremely valuable. Proverbs 27:10 says, "As Iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another." Some of us have discovered that we have some rough edges that need smoothed out. Some of us have discovered that we have some dull spots on our spiritual blades that have hindered our effectiveness in what God called us to be. We have found some: Negative attitudes - Unforgiveness Jealousy - Hidden sin - Envy - Spiritual pride - Spiritual laziness - Workaholism As well as some ungodly environments and relationships that are dulling our lives and our effectiveness for God. I am discovering that alone I justify, rationalize, and live with those things that are dulling my blade. But when I allow another Godly individual into my life and I take the sheath off the blade he can help me to see the truth about my life and I become a sharper and more effective person in the hands of God as he uses me to cut against the grain of our culture. What are you doing to remain spiritually sharp? Do you have some accountability in your life? Have you made room in your life for God and others? Let me encourage you to find some iron and sharpen the blade. Don't be a butter knife in a steak world! Pastor Darrell MacLearn |
Feature Article - Week Of January 30, 2024
~Pastor Darrell MacLearn 2 Corinthians 9:6 -15 says, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: 'He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.' Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" Read also: (just a few of the many scriptures related to this topic) Psalm 24:1, Psalm 50:10, Proverbs 3:1-10, Malachi 3:6-12, Luke 6:38, Luke 12:48, Acts 20:35, 2 Corinthians 9:6, Phil 4:19, Matthew 25:33-46, 1 John 3:16-18, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15. |
John and Sylvia Ronsvalle have been carefully analyzing the giving patterns of American Christians for well over a decade. Their annual The State of Christian Giving is the most accurate report for learning how much Christians in the richest nation in human history actually give. In their most recent edition, they provide detailed information about per-member giving patterns of U.S. church members from 1968 to 2001. Over those thirty-plus years, of course, the average income of U.S. Christians has increased enormously. But that did not carry over into their giving. The report showed that the richer we become, the less we give in proportion to our incomes. In 1968, the average church member gave 3.1 percent of their income - less than a third of a tithe. That figure dropped every year through 1990 and then recovered slightly to 2.66 percent - about one quarter of a tithe. |
Evangelical giving, consistently higher than that of mainline denominations, has fallen from 6.15 percent in 1968 to 4.27 percent in 2001. Sider again: |
As we got richer and richer, evangelicals chose to spend more and more on themselves and give a smaller and smaller percentage to the church. Today, on average, evangelicals in the United States give about two-fifths of a tithe. In 2002, Barna discovered that only 6 percent of born-again adults tithed - a 50-percent decline from 2000 when 12 percent did. And in 2002, just 9 percent of Barna's narrow class of evangelicals tithed. |
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Last modified: March 13, 2024